Epilogue
Almost a year later
Charlie lifted the sledgehammer over her head and swung it at the wall between the two apartments over the bar.
She and Harper had spoken a lot about whether they wanted to buy a new place after they’d officially moved in together a few months ago.
Not that they hadn’t been essentially living together since Christmas Eve the year before, but Charlie was officially giving up her separate space with the swing of this hammer.
Although the idea of buying something not over a bar was appealing, they’d ultimately realized that they really liked where they lived.
One flight of stairs as a commute when Harper finished work at three a.m. some nights, Charlie being able to swing by in the evening for a drink, being able to see the ocean from expanded windows on three sides of the building, and being in walking or biking distance of nearly anything they wanted, including Charlie’s yoga studio, outweighed the desire to have a place that didn’t share a floor, ceiling, or wall with anything else.
And the insulation between the bar and the apartments was impressive, so they barely ever heard anything from below.
But they did want more room, so a few months ago, Charlie had undertaken the task of renovation herself. She could have afforded to pay a contractor, but where was the fun in that?
She’d known absolutely nothing about renovations before, but her dad had undertaken quite a few in her childhood home, so she’d called him in to give her a crash course in plumbing and drywall.
He’d convinced her to hire an electrician for any new wiring, which was the right move.
It had been amazing to bond with him over something new, and having her parents stay with them for a few weeks at the end of the summer had been pretty much perfect too.
She’d taken the renovations in phases, doing her original side first, then they’d moved into that side as she’d started renovating Harper’s original side.
Now the only thing left was to open the wall, tie the flooring together, and finish the drywall in the new opening.
Sure, there would still be a lot of cleanup and some touching up, but saving this for last had allowed them to never feel like they were living in a construction zone, which was worth it.
And it was perfect timing because her parents were coming to stay for the holidays the following week when the university semester ended.
Her life was so different than it had been two years ago.
But she wouldn’t change one thing. She swung the hammer again, trying not to send drywall dust too far into the room.
She’d placed plastic over everything to protect it but still didn’t want to go too wild.
She lost track of time in the rhythm of demolition, but her phone ringing through her headphones broke her from the trance.
She pulled her N-95 mask down and said, “This is Charlie,” without knowing who was on the other end, but almost no one had this number, so it had to be someone she knew.
“Hey Charlie, it’s Sydney.”
“Oh, hi, Sydney. What’s up?”
“I’m sure it’ll be on the news later, but the DOJ finally filed against D. B. Graves today in federal court, and it was a biggie.”
“Oh?” That necessitated removing her protective goggles and sitting on a plastic covered chair.
“Yeah, they indicted your entire former chain of command.” Charlie could hear the smile in her voice. Sydney had come to hate D. B. Graves as much as Charlie and Harper did over the last year that they’d been working together.
But Charlie wasn’t confident she understood her. “Um, chain of command?”
“Sorry.” Sydney chuckled. “Sometimes Reagan’s phrases slip into my vocabulary.
They indicted everyone from your boss and the company’s general counsel, all the way up to the president and CEO of the company.
Your deposition and research were only the tip of the iceberg, and as they started digging, they found more and more people who were ready and willing to talk. ”
Just as Charlie said, “That is absolutely amazing,” the door popped open, and Harper walked in, returning from her shift at the legal clinic. “Hold on once sec, Sydney. Harper just walked in. I’m going to switch you to speaker.”
As Sydney gave Harper a quick recap, Harper’s already happy expression grew brighter, her smile bigger. “I fucking love that for all those pricks,” she said.
“Couldn’t have happened to a better group of entitled assholes,” Charlie said.
“They might already have everything they need from you, Charlie, but be prepared because you might have to go back to DC or New York to testify. But that’s probably a year away with as slow as these things tend to move.
If they don’t settle outside of court. But you did agree to provide whatever assistance they required as a part of your immunity deal,” Sydney said.
“It won’t be the first extra trip I’ve had to make up there.
” She’d gone up in the early summer at the SEC’s request but had taken Harper with her.
They’d made a fun trip of it, touring the monuments and museums scattered around DC and had met Sydney and Reagan for dinner.
They’d become fast friends, and Sydney and Reagan were planning a trip to Key West in February to get out of the cold northern winter.
“And even if it’s not the last, I’m willing to do whatever it takes to take them down. ”
Harper smiled and squeezed her hand as she mouthed, “I love you.”
“I love you too,” Charlie mouthed back.
When they wrapped up the call, Harper started to pull Charlie into a hug, but Charlie stopped her with a palm on her chest.
“What’s wrong?” Harper said.
“You don’t want to hug me. I’m covered in drywall dust. Really, you should change and get downstairs to the bar before you end up covered too.”
Harper pulled her closer again. “I can tell you’re covered.
You have this adorable outline of dust on your face around where your goggles and mask were.
” She traced a finger under Charlie’s eye.
“I don’t care. I just want to hug you. Maybe kiss you.
I’ll rinse off before I head downstairs. I’m just so happy.”
Charlie couldn’t resist, so she gave in and wrapped her dust-coated arms around Harper’s back. “Me too. Merry almost Christmas.”
“You’re all I need for Christmas, but this news is a nice holiday bonus.”
“Such a charmer,” Charlie said and pulled Harper’s hips tighter into her own as heat blazed through her.
“But as much as I want to, I don’t think we have time for what I’m thinking about now.
You need to go to work, and I need to get this finished with time to clean up before my yoga class in a couple of hours. ”
“Your adherence to the rules is bullshit. And I bet we have time for quick shower sex.” Harper smiled as she said the words.
“Someone has to keep us on track, and that’s apparently my role today.
You might have time for quick shower sex, but I’m on a tight schedule, as we don’t want this still so messy tonight.
” She waved behind her at the wall that was two-thirds gone, as well as the piles of drywall and two by fours.
“And you also need time to let poor Franky out of her bedroom prison and take her for a little walk while I work.” Charlie shrugged. “I’m sorry, yet I’m not.”
Harper shook her head. “Taskmaster. But you’re right.
And I guess I’m willing to wait to get you in the shower, despite how adorable this look is.
” She swirled a finger around Charlie’s face.
“Because I know this is just the start of the rest of our lives. And I am going to cherish every sun-kissed moment, moon-kissed moment, and every moment in between.”
Charlie kissed her and held their hands together against her chest, right above her heart, and reveled in the feeling that the best was yet to come.